Method and apparatus for determining the attachment position of a motion sensing apparatus

Abstract

A motion sensing apparatus generally comprising a housing unit operable to be attached to an object at an attachment position, an accelerometer operable to provide a signal corresponding to an acceleration measurement; and a processing system. The processing system is operable to acquire the signal corresponding to the acceleration measurement and analyze the acquired acceleration measurement to identify the attachment position of the housing unit.

1. A motion sensing apparatus, comprising:
 a housing unit operable to be attached to an object at an attachment position; 
 an accelerometer coupled with the housing unit and operable to provide a signal corresponding to an acceleration measurement; 
 a memory including a database of motion analysis algorithms; and 
 a processing system operable to—
 acquire the signal corresponding to the acceleration measurement, 
 analyze the acquired acceleration measurement to identify the attachment position of the housing unit, 
 access the memory to select a motion analysis algorithm from the database based on the identified attachment position, and 
 determine a motion parameter utilizing the selected motion analysis algorithm. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to present a visual indication of the determined motion parameter to a user. 
     
     
       3. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further operable to analyze the acquired acceleration measurement to classify a motion of the object and select the motion analysis algorithm based on the identified attachment position and motion classification. 
     
     
       4. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the object is a person and the attachment position is a position corresponding to the person's body. 
     
     
       5. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the attachment position is a shoe or a non-shoe position. 
     
     
       6. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the attachment position is one of a position within a shoe and a position on top of the shoe. 
     
     
       7. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a plurality of accelerometers coupled with the housing unit and operable to provide a plurality of signals corresponding to acceleration measurements, the processing system being operable to acquire the signals and identify the attachment position of the motion sensing apparatus utilizing the acceleration measurements. 
     
     
       8. The motion sensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing unit houses the accelerometers, the memory, and the processing system.